Newton girls fall to Cougars

SALINA — The Newton High School girls’ basketball team couldn’t get the offense going in a 44-34 loss to Salina South Tuesday in Salina. South was 12 of 22 from the field, while Newton was 11 of 36. South was 18 of 19 from the free throw line. Newton was 10 of 16. “They seemed like they were shooting closer to 80 percent,” Newton coach Randy Jordan said. “We took some ill-advised shots. We were really flat. They just outplayed us in all facets of the game. It shocked me. After the Central win, I thought we understood what it took to play every night against quality teams. I thought we could win. South had different plans.” Megan Holloway led South, 3-0 overall and 1-0 in AV-CTL I play, with 20 points. Janai Mitchell added 10 points. The two combined for 13 of 14 free throws. Newton was led by Kelsi Langley and Abbie Lehman with 12 points each. The Railers did have one of their better ball-handling nights — just seven turnovers Newton opened the game with a Langley three-point play off her own steal. South then followed with a 13-2 run, capped by three free throws for MacKenzie Haynes with 2.1 seconds left in the period. Newton’s Hannah Carlgren buried a trey from about a foot behind the half-court line, getting the Railers within five, 13-8. Newton opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run, capped by a Lehman hook shot. A Taylor Stahly trey gave Newton its first lead of the period with 4:15 left in the period. A Lehman layup with 2.5 seconds remaining put the Railers up by one at the half, 23-22. Newton was eight of 21 shooting in the first half. South was eight of 13. Newton was outscored 6-2 to open the third quarter. Cook hit two free throws with 4.9 seconds left in the period to put South up 30-27. Megan Holloway opened the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws. Lehman broke the run with a pair of free throws with 6:09 left in regulation. A Langley three-point play with 4:45 remaining got Newton within two. Newton missed several opportunities to tie the game. Megan Holloway hit a layup with 2:12 left. “When Kelsi got that steal and the three-point play, I thought ‘now we have it,’ ” Jordan said. “Until that point, we hadn’t showed much emotional all night.” After trading turnovers, Langley hit a pair of free throws with 1:28 in regulation. Mitchell countered with two free throws for South. A Railer basket was then called back on a travel call. Megan Holloway then hit four free throws to put the game out of reach. “They got out and pressured us, and we didn’t go to the rim,” Jordan said. “We took contested shots and passed up uncontested shots. We were just a step slow offensively.” Newton is off until next Tuesday, hosting Campus. The Colts are 2-2, coming off a 58-42 win over Hutchinson. “We’ll get some things straightened out in practice,” Jordan said. “We rebound. I’m glad it happened now and not in February or in the (Newton Invitational). I think every coach fears a flat team. ... Campus is athletic. They have a good, young team coming up. If we come out the way we did tonight, who knows what will happen.”NEWTON (4-1, 1-1 AV-CTL I) — Porter 0 0-0 2, 0; Anderson 0 1-2 1, 1; Stahly 0 (1) 0-0 2, 3; Hiebert 1 1-2 3, 3; Bartel 0 0-0 0, 0; Lehman 4 4-6 4, 12; Lehman 4 4-6 0, 12; Carlgren 0 (1) 0-0 3, 3; TOTALS 9 (2) 10-16 15, 34. SALINA SOUTH (3-0, 1-0 AV-CTL I) — Boyles 0 0-0 0, 0; Mitchell 2 6-6 4, 10; M.Holloway 5 (1) 7-8 1, 20; E.Holloway 0 0-0 3, 0; Webb 0 (1) 0-0 4, 3; Cook 3 2-2 1, 8; Huffman 0 0-0 1, 0; Haynes 0 3-3 1, 3; TOTALS 10 (2) 18-19 15, 44. Newton 8 15 4 7 —34 S.South 13 9 8 14 —44